Poultry Judgers Earn Top Honors

Madison and Culpeper 4-H members teamed up for the 2009 VA Poultry Federation Youth Convention on April 24 at the Rockingham Co Fairgrounds. This was the largest contest in many years with over 200 4-Hers and FFA members participating. The poultry judging contest consisted of judging exterior and interior qualities of market eggs, grading both chicken and turkey carcasses, identifying poultry parts, and placing 2 classes of production hens along with oral reasons for those placings.

Contest Results: Madison-Culpeper Junior A Team – 1st place team; Madison-Culpeper Junior B Team – 3rd place team and Madison-Culpeper Senior Team – 3rd place team
Overall High Point Juniors: Nathaniel Sides/Madison 1st place, Anna Maria Eakins/Madison 2nd place, Tim Hughes/Culpeper 3rd place and Simeon Koranek/Madison 4th place
Overall High Point Seniors: Micah Koranek/Madison 2nd place, Rebekah Yowell/Madison 7th place.

The M/C Team B did not place any individuals in the top ten but the team included: Sarah Hughes/Culpeper, Bryan Jarrell/Madison, Sarah Jarrell/Madison an d Elizabeth Koranek/Madison. Mary Quinn Eakins/Madison Senior 4-Her assisted in coaching the team and served as a contest proctor in the FFA division of the contest. Because Mary Quinn has been a member of the VA state poultry judging team she is no longer eligible to participate as a contestant so she has put her skills into coaching.

Afternoon activities included: the Poultry Carnival. touring Tyson’s processing plant or the VA Department of Agriculture’s Lab in Harrisonburg, a necropsy workshop and an embryology workshop.

Club leaders and chaperones accompanying the 4-Her’s were Laurie Hughes, Cherie Jarrell, and Norma Sides.

Boaters Safety Class hosted by Orange 4-H Anglers Club

The OCHS 4-H Anglers Club is offering a Boater Safety Class on May 24th at the high school from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 p.m. This class will be required by the year 2011 for anyone under age 21. Why not participate now and learn how to be safe on the water? Please contact club leader Becky Gore at iteach72@yahoo.com for more information. The class has no set fee, though a donation to the OCHS 4-H Anglers Club is suggested.

June is Dairy Month Poster Contest

Show off your artistic talents. All youth are encouraged to submit entries for this year's June is Dairy Month poster contest by May 29, 2009. The theme is "Fuel up with milk", and contest divisions are open to juniors, intermediates, and seniors. Cloverbuds are encouraged to create posters, but theirs will not be judged (per cloverbud policy). Posters must be original artwork (no computer graphics) and on posterboard that is exactly 14" x 22". Other sizes are ineligible. Please visit http://www.dasc.vt.edu/youth/images/poster.pdf for more info.

Centaurs Celebrate Global Youth Service Day

The members of the Madison Centaurs Horse Club celebrated Global Youth Service Day by cleaning up their stretch of Oneals Road. Members met on Thursday evening to clean up the roadway and beautify their environment!

District Contest Results

4-H District Contests for Presentations and Share-the-Fun Talent Shows were held Saturday in Ruckersville. Six Madison 4-H members participated in the contests. All participants earned Blue Awards! Anna Maria Eakins with her dramatic poem "The Blue and the Gray"; Alisha Gould with her piano selection "All That Jazz"; Becki Broyles with her presentation titled "How to Make a Scrapbook Page"; Caleb Kellison with his Tae Kwando presentation; Kelly Jarvis with her jazz dance act and "Banana Blitz Smoothie" presentation and Mary Quinn Eakins in Fashion Revue. Great job to all!!

Madison County Fair Livestock Entries Now Avaliable

The Livestock Entry Catalog and forms are now posted on the 4-H website. http://madison4h.pbwiki.com

Adventure Club take top honors at State Wildlife Contest

Madison 4-H Adventure Club members Kelly Jarvis, Sheyanne Reed, Becki Broyles, David Yowell and Meghan Ward represented the County program at the 2009 State 4-H Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Contest held April 4, in Albemarle Co. The team of Kelly Jarvis, Becki Broyles and David Yowell won first place in the Junior age division for competitors ages 9-13 years. Kelly Jarvis won first place in wildlife species identification and oral presentation. David Yowell won second place in wildlife management practices and oral presentation and a third place award for wildlife species identification. Becki Broyles won third place award for in general knowledge. Sheyanne Reed and Meghan Ward competed in the beginner’s division. They completed posters on wildlife biology and management. In addition to their fourth and sixth place overall awards they received several 4-H Danish blue and red awards

The nationally based 4-H Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program (WHEP) requires youth to learn the food, water, shelter and space preferences of approximately 40 Virginia wildlife species. The skills and knowledge learned through participation in WHEP prepares youth for college and professional level opportunities in the field of wildlife and fisheries management. For more information, contact Virginia Cooperative Extension – Madison County office at 948-6881.

4-H Camp Paperwork and Fees Due April 24th

4-H Camp paper work has been mailed; thanks to those who have already returned their completed forms. If you have not, please make this a priority! Remember that all forms are due by April 24th (next Friday). Final camp balances are also due, or there will be a $20 late fee assessed. Thanks for your cooperation!

Teen Reality Weekend at 4-H Center

Do you know the details surrounding buying a car? Could you write a resume and get a job? Teens wanting to learn more about 'the real world' and topics such as these should make plans to attend the first Teen Reality Weekend at the Northern Virginia 4-H Center, May 15-17. A complete brochure and registration form can be downloaded from: http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/northern/documents/TeenWeekend_000.pdf . This sounds like a fun and informative program!!!

Miss America Credits 4-H with Passion for Service

Ask Katie Stam about her passion for community service, and she'll tell you it all started with 4-H. Long before winning her title as Miss America, Katie Stam would spend hours in 4-H performing in creative dramatics, competing at the Jackson County fair, and visiting with 4-H friends and family. It was there that she learned the values of leadership, mentorship, and community service. And like most 4-H kids, she collected blue ribbons and trophies along the way to mark her accomplishments. With community service as her national platform, Katie could potentially transform the way millions of young people think about community service and 4-H. "4-H is such an advocate for community service," said Katie. "It encourages you to reach out to people in so many different ways."